Sk8man

6 cannon rod holders with tracks and gimbal mounts and a new 300 copper (as if I need another rod and reel)

I have been ice fishing nearly my entire life and I am still amazed at the stupidity of some folks; especially early and late season. These folks risk not only their own safety or lives but that of others pulled into the situation to help rescue them. They also divert resources away from other necessary matters (e.g. ambulances and fire trucks etc.). Even 3 to 4 inches of hard clear ice is real spooky and requires great caution.....people just can't wait and have zero patience and it can cost them dearly. Even if it doesn't cost them their life going into that cold water is one of the worst experiences that can be imagined and hypothermia can set in very quickly and before rescuers can arrive. Just not worth it. The fish will still be there when conditions are safer.

All of our best to all of LOU

Ah I was just messing with you guys anyway damned snow is coming down and my snow blower won't start was fine on several time summer and Fall....never fails Good luck out there.

What ....no room for poor Jim?

Yes Ray I was kinda kidding....my bait came from netting. But i did blow a lot of other stuff as a kid including all my model cars, ships and planes

Yeah the M-80's also worked with a small sinker tied to them but you had to be real quick gathering any stunned bait because they recovered pretty fast

Nice job on the rod holder

WTG Brian especially getting a shot in with those guys

I just spray mine with black Plastidip so I keep the lead away from my hands and minimize scratches to the boat. Maybe another alternative for you if the powder coating doesn't work or unable to do it.

Hey Pete I sent his phone number in a PM

Some real good points. I never fished over 150-175 or so at night as I only had 300 ft of anchor rope. I had (2) 20 lb anchors separated by a couple feet of rope one a river anchor and the other a Dansforth. By having the two separated they wouldn't drag as much or as far unless it was a really stiff wind in which case i would move to better protected water or quit. Interesting about the flashlight routine. I had one too but I also had a little blinking red light that was designed for people using bicycles at night. Very disturbing though hearing someone winding up their motor and seeming nearby in total darkness This still happens a lot on weekends on Honeoye Lake presently during the summer and to make it worse you can hear the beer cans and bottles clinking....while they go flat out without their lights on. Back then during the early eighties my dad put together my first graph recorder (Heath Kit and used rolls of paper) including soldering all the components into the motherboard along with everything else....came in about a thousand parts in the box that had to be put together (luckily he was an electronics technician or i would have been screwed). Prior to that I used the first Vexilar flasher with two 6 volt batteries. We couldn't even have imagined some of today's equipment that is taken for granted.

One of my Coleman's had a reflector that covered one side of it the other one I used foil to block the light and project it outward and not in my eyes. When I later switched to the attractor headlight the beam was directed downward so was not a factor. My setup was basically like yours Penn9 reels on Medium action rods 10 lb mono (probably use fluoro now) 8 lb leaders about 2 ft long 4-6 ft apart. I'll include pics of the materials for reference for folks that haven't experienced this stuff;. The 2 ft leaders with #8 double hooks (tied my own) were attached to the loop end of the spring clips. The spring end was fastened to the clevice or between the middle beads of the bead chain that was spliced into the main 10 lb test line. I used the bead chains with the tiny clevice so that the bait could swim freely around the line without getting tangled. The sinker was located at the end of the main 10 lb test rig line. The line was lowered one bead chain at a time while threading a sawbelly on the leader just in front of the dorsal fin) with a threading needle such that the hook points were facing backward toward the tail just under the skin and avoiding the backbone as the fish would usually swallow the bait head first. Sometimes I would just hook the hook through the upper and lower mouth of the bait, This type of fishing is done suspended as you are drawing fish up from the bottom and from the sides and hopefully away from your anchor line. Ray is right about the tiny (#14) hooks catching both sawbellies and smelt as well on the bare hooks. today we would probably use the smallest sabiki rig available on an ice fishing jigging rod and just trim off one of the 6 hooks

Yeah Mike right out of the dinosaur age......like us